Monday, December 26, 2016

USING A DARK GEL STAIN ON LORI'S FAMILY ROOM CABINETS

In Lori's home all of the cabinets use to have a pickled/white washed finish.

She had me paint some of her cabinets black/distressed. The black looks amazing with her wood floors and decor. Then, she asked me to darken her kitchen cabinets just a little bit so they would look distressed. I used a gel stain on the edges and a little in the middle of the doors. The gel stain really toned down the pickled finish.

Recently she called and wanted me to use gel stain on her family room cabinets.

Even though the cabinets were pickled/white washed, the wood was a little different and the wood soaked up more of the gel stain than in the kitchen.
I painted on and wiped off with a rag.

It looked really, really nice with the brick on the fireplace.

She is especially happy with the way the new color looks on the mantel.

After painting and distressing I rubbed a very light gray glaze over all.

Before she had the cushions covered, she sent me a picture of the fabric.

Isn't it beautiful!!

She wanted me to paint the top of the dining table and buffet a lightly crackled gray.

Wonderful little Zoey & Zeus.

Sooo cute and fun!

This is one of my favorite kitchens.

A while back I painted, glazed and distressed the cabinets.

The white granite is amazing!!

This is the large kitchen island that I painted and distressed a dark gray green.

Then I applied a heavy coat of glaze over the green to antique or age the piece.

I love the handles that Marsha chose.

They found this stained glass piece in rural Texas. It came from an old church.

They put a light behind it and it looks really, really nice with the light on.

The dining room is so large it was easy painting the furniture right there in place. Marsha will be replacing that china cabinet in the background. She has a larger cabinet that is full of antique family quilts and I think she is planning to put it on that back wall. Also, she is going to paint the frame on the mirror in gray and silver tones leaving a little gold.

Her furniture was really beautiful before, but is really, really nice now.

Monday, December 5, 2016

HAND PAINTING MIRROR & PICTURE FRAMES FOR PAULA'S NEW HOME

Paula is still working on her decorating and asked me to help her change the colors on a mirror frame and a picture frame. They were both metallic gold and very beautiful, but she thought they no longer looked good with the gray tones she picked for this new home.

Thank goodness she has this huge island in her kitchen.

It was a perfect work table for the painting.

This is the very large picture frame. On the right you can see the "before" metallic gold.
Paula had several colors of paint from her renovation and asked me to use a dark greenie gray for this frame.

I painted on and rubbed off the greenie gray. On the smooth areas I rubbed more off, leaving the paint a little heavier around the decorative design. That gave it an "antique aged" look.

This is where Paula plans to hang the painting. Those walls are gray and my camera made them look kind of greenie blue. The new color on the frame looks really nice.

And, this is wonderful Hank. He's a huge Maine Coon Cat and a really cute personality. When I laid down my bags, he immediately sniffed around and then laid on top of them.

His mom says he likes me...I LOVE him!!

Last night Paula sent this picture to me.

He's so funny!

This is the mirror frame. Paula wanted it to be a soft gray.

When I finished painting it she thought it didn't look dark enough with the walls in the dining room, so I rubbed a dark blacky brown on top of the soft gray. It was a good contrast.

This is how it turned out. Looks really good on the soft gray walls, now.

In the first picture above you can see Paula's kitchen light fixture.

This is the light fixture she chose to go across the room above her breakfast table.

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